


sleep with one eye open

by extrastellar



Series: KnB V-Day Challenge 2020 [5]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Living Together, M/M, knbvdaychallenge2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22789981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extrastellar/pseuds/extrastellar
Summary: Kasamatsu has learned a lot about Imayoshi ever since they moved in together two years ago. There is one thing though that he still can't really come to terms with: Imayoshi Shouichi is a giant pillow hoarder.
Relationships: Imayoshi Shouichi/Kasamatsu Yukio
Series: KnB V-Day Challenge 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637410
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35
Collections: KnBVdayChallenge 2020





	sleep with one eye open

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Pillow"

There are a few things Kasamatsu learned about his new roommate ever since he had agreed to (or rather, been bullied to) move in with Imayoshi.

For example: Imayoshi always clipped his bangs back when he was working on his assignments or anything, really, that involved him hunched over a table. Which came out wrong. Hunched over a table for purely academic reasons. It wasn’t getting any better.

He learned that Imayoshi’s kansaiben thickened when he was on the phone with his father, and he also learned that Imayoshi Kazuo was a bit of a dick who had sent Imayoshi to Touou because he didn’t get along with him. Which Kasamatsu could technically relate to, but it was something different when your own family did it.

Imayoshi had a younger sister, Megumi, who was currently abroad in South Korea for a one year high school exchange. Kasamatsu learned that Imayoshi Megumi was probably the most important person in Imayoshi’s life if the way he genuinely smiled and joked around when he was facetiming her was anything to go by. It was kind of sweet, actually.

Kasamatsu also learned that despite his appearance, Imayoshi despised black coffee. In fact, Imayoshi always added so much cream, syrup and sugar to it that Kasamatsu got diabetes just from looking at it and got nauseous when Imayoshi slurped his cavity-invoking concoction with a happy grin.

One of the most surprising things Kasamatsu had learned over the last two years they had lived together was definitely that Imayoshi was gay. Kise had always claimed the Touou captain batted for the other team, bragging about his gaydar, but Kasamatsu had only kicked him and told him not to make stupid assumptions about people. Well, maybe there was a truth to Kise’s alleged gaydar, because Imayoshi had casually asked if it was okay if he brought his boyfriend over the second Kasamatsu was slurping up his rice noodles. He had nearly choked.

Imayoshi and his then-boyfriend, some guy named Akito, had broken up after four months of dating. That was when Kasamatsu learned that Imayoshi, despite being a terrible guy most of the time, actually had feelings. It wasn’t glaringly obvious, but Imayoshi had been a lot quieter following the breakup and his cooking had been a lot less spicy than usual. It was in the little things, like how he had frowned more often than not and didn’t jump on any opportunity to tease Kasamatsu.

Kasamatsu and Imayoshi both learned that Imayoshi was allergic to strawberries one summer after practice when they treated themselves to ice cream. His tongue had swollen and his eyes had started to itch and Kasamatsu had dragged him to the next pharmacy where they were hurriedly given an EpiPen and the urgent instruction to immediately see a doctor. Imayoshi’s eyes had been red-rimmed for a while after that and Kasamatsu frolicked at the rumours that Imayoshi was a stoner.

Kasamatsu also learned that he and Imayoshi had somehow, over the course of the last year, become boyfriends. Don’t ask him how – he somehow just ended up in the situation, probably an intricate ploy of Imayoshi’s.

After accepting that he was dating Imayoshi, and probably had for at least three months, they had agreed to share a room, and a bed. Which was how Kasamatsu learned that his boyfriend was a giant pillow hog.

“Shouichi”, he snapped as he was once again pushed to the very edge of their bed because of Imayoshi’s countless pillows. “Get your fucking pillows off my side of the bed.”

Imayoshi grumbled in his sleep and shifted, further pushing three of his pillows against Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu’s eyebrow twitched.

“ _Shouichi_ ”, he said again, firmer this time, and tried to get leverage on the tiny bit he had left on the mattress to push back against the pillows (and Imayoshi) threatening to toss him out of his own bed.

“Hng”, Imayoshi said, still deeply asleep, and nuzzled his face deeper into a soft, square pillow. It would be cute, if the motion didn’t cause Kasamatsu to fall off the bed.

“Fuck!”, he swore. He hadn’t landed as hard as he could have, given that he had tossed some of Imayoshi’s pillows on the ground before even getting into bed.

“Yukio?” Imayoshi peeked over the edge of the bed, eyes still mostly closed and hair sticking up everywhere. “Don’t swear.”

Kasamatsu took a deep breath, willing his rising blood pressure down. Imayoshi had just woken up and he was kind of a prick by default still. No need to blow up at him in the middle of the night.

“You need to get rid of the pillows”, he said instead, through clenched teeth.

Imayoshi frowned. “What? No.”

“Well, it’s either me or the pillows! Both can’t fit in our bed!”, Kasamatsu snapped and hauled one of the pillows he had landed on at Imayoshi’s face. His boyfriend caught the fluffy missile and rolled over.

“’Kay then~”, Imayoshi said through a yawn and nestled back into his countless pillows. “Couch is through there.”

Kasamatsu stared at him, but before he had gathered his bearings enough to shout at his boyfriend, Imayoshi had already fallen back asleep.

“Bastard”, Kasamatsu growled, grabbed a pillow and his blanket and stomped out of the room.

Who even needed twelve pillows?! At least it had been twelve the last time he counted, but he was also pretty sure that Megumi, bless her heart but also don’t, had sent her brother another one for his birthday. So thirteen, probably. Kasamatsu himself was very comfortable with a single pillow, thank you very much. The weirdest thing was that Imayoshi also somehow managed to use all of his thirteen pillows. He stuffed some beneath himself, had at least two under his head, another two or three cradled in his arms, around three stuck between his legs and then a whole row of them against the wall. Kasamatsu hadn’t believed his eyes the first time he had seen Imayoshi’s pillow collection because by all means, the guy looked like someone who slept on the thinnest futon out there with only one sheet. His boyfriend was full of surprises.

Kasamatsu dropped his blanket and pillow on the couch and bundled himself in, retrieving his phone from the coffee table where he had left it last night. He briefly winced at the bright screen when he opened Google and typed in “why does my partner sleep with so many pillows”.

He scrolled through the results and frowned at one particular article.

> _**13–19 pillows** : This is the perfect number of pillows for the sleeper with a large bed and an even larger imagination. Think of each pillow as an opportunity for an adventure (an adventure of comfort!). Keep in mind that the washing of pillowcases will now become more of a chore, but you also have more freedom with pillowcase designs or themes. Maybe a pillow family tree, wherein each pillow represents a relative? Or are you an American history buff? Consider an original colony-themed arrangement. You could even keep each pillow in its corresponding geographic location, resting your feet on the Georgia pillow and keeping the northern half of the Massachusetts pillow between your head and the headboard. Let the waves of the Atlantic Ocean be your sweet lullaby._

Kasamatsu nearly threw his phone across the room. If Imayoshi ever started colour coordinating his pillows or god forbid to any arrangements, he’d kick him out. Love or not, he had to draw the line somewhere. He left the website and scrolled further until he reached a promising article.

> **_Sleeping with five or more pillows:_ **  
>  _\- Lonely_  
>  _\- In need of comfort_
> 
> _From a psychological point of view, so many pillows usually reflect something missing in your life. You may or may not be aware that you’re feeling lonely and need something to hug._

Kasamatsu stared at the paragraph and reread it again. Imayoshi, lonely? No way. The guy was not depressed. And he had plenty of friends around him, and Megumi.

And yet… Kasamatsu couldn’t help but think of how Megumi was in a whole other country, how Imayoshi’s dad had sent him all the way to Tokyo for school when he was 16 because he couldn’t deal with him. And Kasamatsu’s chest tightened when he realised that yeah, alright, he wasn’t the biggest cuddler. He wasn’t that big on physical contact either way, Kise had learned that the hard way. He didn’t even hold hands with Imayoshi outside of their home and they rarely even hugged if they weren’t having sex.

Shit. Had Kasamatsu brought the pillow-demise upon himself? (Had he unconsciously isolated Imayoshi from him?)

“Shit”, he sighed and got back up, grabbed his blanket and wandered back into their bedroom. Imayoshi had slid up against the wall, his back pressing against the pillow-row there, face burrowed in one of the other pillows.

He really didn’t look like an asshole like this.

Kasamatsu climbed back into bed and pulled his blanket over both of them. Imayoshi didn’t stir and Kasamatsu knew that he was awake and pretending to sleep right then and there. He felt a smile tug at his lips.

“You’re so needy”, he murmured and folded himself against his boyfriend’s chest, arms winding around the other boy’s waist, head tucked under Imayoshi’s chin and one leg sliding between his. Imayoshi immediately curled around him and Kasamatsu was already starting to get uncomfortably warm, but he could feel Imayoshi’s heartbeat against his shoulder and the slow rise and fall of his chest. “Night, Shouichi.”

Kasamatsu didn’t get rolled out of bed again that night.


End file.
